Making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the state's constitution.

Plans to float part of Japan Post’s business, which were announced in December, represent the culmination of a lengthy process with much at stake politically. The holding company, one of the world’s largest financial bodies, and two of its four subsidiaries – tasked with banking and insurance – will be opened to investors.